LET'S READ SCRIPTURE

  Crossing the Red Sea 1 Then the  Lord  said to Moses,  2 “Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon.  3 Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.’  4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the  Lord .” So the Israelites did this. 5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, “What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!”  6 So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him.  7 He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them.  8 The  Lord  hard...

  The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread 1 The  Lord  said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt,  2 “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year.  3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb  for his family, one for each household.  4 If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat.  5 The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats.  6 Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.  7 Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat ...

  The Plague on the Firstborn 1 Now the  Lord  had said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here, and when he does, he will drive you out completely.  2 Tell the people that men and women alike are to ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold.”  3 (The  Lord  made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh’s officials and by the people.) 4 So Moses said, “This is what the  Lord  says: ‘About midnight I will go throughout Egypt.  5 Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the female slave, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well.  6 There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt—worse than there has ever been or ever will be again.  7 But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at an...

  The Plague of Darkness 21 Then the  Lord  said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness spreads over Egypt—darkness that can be felt.”  22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days.  23 No one could see anyone else or move about for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived. 24 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, worship the  Lord . Even your women and children may go with you; only leave your flocks and herds behind.” 25 But Moses said, “You must allow us to have sacrifices and burnt offerings to present to the  Lord  our God.  26 Our livestock too must go with us; not a hoof is to be left behind. We have to use some of them in worshiping the  Lord  our God, and until we get there we will not know what we are to use to worship the  Lord .” 27 But the  Lord  hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was ...

  The Plague of Hail 13 Then the  Lord  said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning, confront Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the  Lord , the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me,  14 or this time I will send the full force of my plagues against you and against your officials and your people, so you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth.  15 For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth.  16 But I have raised you up  for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.  17 You still set yourself against my people and will not let them go.  18 Therefore, at this time tomorrow I will send the worst hailstorm that has ever fallen on Egypt, from the day it was founded till now.  19 Give an order now to bring your livestock and everything you...